


Status; Unknown

by HideInMyShadow



Series: Unknown Instability [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Over the Garden Wall (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Android Wirt, Androids, Crossover, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 09:51:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15434409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HideInMyShadow/pseuds/HideInMyShadow
Summary: Existence as an obsolete model is just a wait for deactivation for most and yet for one android things didn't go as predicted.Ever since being bought by a woman who needed company, Wirt has been changing. He's not sure what it means but he'd like the chance to find out...even if none of it makes any sense.





	Status; Unknown

**Author's Note:**

> I suck at naming these stories I swear I'll get better one day.  
> Wrote this while the companion for Falling into Humanity is still under way- that should be done soon for you Gravity Falls fans who seemed to like it!
> 
> Once again Wirt is an android with the appearance of someone between 18-23.

His first experience of ‘home’ was quiet, empty and lacking in life.

His owner, a woman in her mid-twenties named Amelia Ashburn, often attempted to smile and go about her day as usual yet required the android to assist in moving certain items and to hold her when she cried. It was…lacking in something, her life, and he could not fully comprehend it.  
From what information he could gather, it seemed that Amelia had recently been divorced after six years of marriage and had suffered from depression and loneliness shortly after. Though a few family members and neighbours came to visit on occasion, Amelia lacked the constant interactions that she needed.

His model was quite old for a companion android, his design and features not as advanced nor appealing as the newest range, leading to his line to be discontinued. All existing models were either second hand, designated as secondary assistants in care homes or custom made for collectors.  
As far as he was aware he individually had been reset at least twice after his assistance was no longer required. He had presumed that he would be deactivated after a month on display, a logical conclusion for an obsolete machine.

But then Amelia had seen him and for some reason bought him on the spot. She called him Wirt, an Anglo-Saxon name meaning worthy. Or perhaps chosen from the old German word for host- his owner seemed the type to name him such according to the large collection of history books kept in her room. It also made far more sense to name him after something that he was programmed to do than ‘worthy’.

Her reasons for choosing _him_ was a mystery. Perhaps she simply wanted a cheap android until she could afford a better one?

He didn’t understand why that thought raised his stress levels so much.

“Wirt, be a dear and tell me where the jam is again will you?”

“Third cupboard, second shelf, Amelia.”

Wirt glanced over his shoulder, just catching the smile sent his way as Amelia moved around the kitchen. He found it strange that she preferred for them to cook together, he did not require assistance as far as he was aware but Amelia had been very clear that she enjoyed the activity and so he did as was asked of him. Seeing her happy brought a sensation of accomplishment.

It had been seven months since he first arrived at this small house and he found it…peaceful. Their routines were mundane and irregular, based entirely on Amelia’s feelings, and that was comfortable. If he wasn’t aware of how ridiculous the notion was he could say he enjoyed his life; he was treated well by Amelia, their roles almost reversed as she made a point to question his own wants and needs more than she asked for her own to be met. He had been learning to play clarinet, having found the instrument while cleaning and becoming strangely fascinated with it, taking quiet afternoons to practice small tunes while Amelia read by the window.  
She had made him clothes, hand knit jumpers mainly, that he kept carefully folded in a drawer after Amelia had pestered him into picking a room for himself and his things. His collection of items was growing slowly, the jumpers accompanied by an old clock, a model train and a selection of books that had peaked his interest.

Thinking on the way things were and their dynamic, left Wirt unsure. He was designed to take care of others, yet Amelia seemed to want something that didn’t quite fit that directive. So what was he? Did Amelia see him more as a burden than helpful? Was he some form of project to keep her busy?

_What was he?_

“Wirt? Wirt! The pan!”

Looking down at the pan revealed a black charred mess where a pancake used to be, smoke beginning to rise as he stared down in puzzlement before quickly moving the pan away from the hob and flinging the disaster into the bin. Thirium pump whirring Wirt grabbed a tea towel and fanned at the fire alarm before it had a chance to screech, apologies tumbling from his lips.

“Oh gosh, oh gosh. I’m sorry Amelia, I won’t do it again I swear! You can sit down, I’ll start it all again so-”

A gentle hand grasped his arm pulling it down.

“Wirt, I’m not mad, we can make more. Are you alright? It’s not like you to ignore a fire hazard.”

Facing her Wirt considered his options carefully, wavering on what he should and shouldn’t say. In the end he couldn’t lie to her.

“I was…thinking. About how you act around me. I- it’s confusing and I don’t understand it but it’s…nice? I don’t wish to change it as contradictory to my program as it might be but… I was just wondering…what _am_ I? How- how do you wish me to view our interactions?”

The question seemed to surprise her, mouth opening slightly as she stared at him, her eyes looking at him as if for the first time. The silence made his mind spin, analysing the past few months again to see if he had done anything that could warrant deactivation, perhaps he shouldn’t have questioned her at all. Carefully removing her hand from his arm, Wirt turned back to his previous task, rearranging items to keep himself occupied.

“Never mind, that was out of line. I apologise.”

Then Amelia’s arms were wrapped around him, head resting between his shoulder blades and halting his movements. For a few beats they stood like that before she turned him around to face her, hands placed softly on his cheeks.

“I think of you as…family. As a son I never had, Wirt. I know you’re confused about yourself, I’ve noticed that you’ve been changing into something far beyond what I expected and that’s…I’m proud of you. Whatever, _whoever_ you are I just want to find out with you.”

Her smile was warm, loving and slight, eyes shining with honest emotion. Wirt was a machine, he couldn’t feel things, yet neither were surprised at the tears that slipped down his face.

Wirt had someone who saw him as family.

And he was sure that this was only the beginning.

* * *

 

After that it was easier for Wirt to accept the irregularities in his software, questioning Amelia to further understand them as they appeared. The most baffling development had been completely unexpected and started out of curiosity. On the way home from work Amelia had spotted a book featuring a number of old poems she thought would be interesting to look into, flicking through the pages later as Wirt closed the curtains for the night.  
It had been a fleeting thought in her mind, but interesting enough to pass the book to the android and ask his opinion. Wirt had found the use of language vague and rhythmical, completely illogical yet very captivating, moving, inspiring.  
A few days later he was blinking at a page of pros freshly written by his own hand.

Amelia had been giddy about it, despite Wirt’s apprehension, astounded that her boy could create something completely new and abstract with little direction. This was something that was completely his own, a skill not listen in his programming nor given the capacity to exist.  
Though it didn’t stop her teasing that he was able to address her as ‘mother’ in his writing yet stumbled over speaking such a word out loud.

With each new discovery Wirt became more of a person and Amelia happier and stable. Their lives were starting to brighten.

They were happy.

* * *

 

It seemed like the moment Wirt was secure and comfortable in his relationship with Ame- his mother, that everything decided to change.

Of course, it was nowhere near as sudden as he made it out to be; his mother had been dating a man from work, Harry Meadows, for over a year before he moved in with them. Mr Meadows was a more outgoing person than his mother, louder and more expressive, his attitude towards Wirt was of a curiosity. The man had been cautious at first but soon acted in a friendly manner that the android found impossible to keep up with.  
Then after five months in the same house they were married.  
Another ten months after that there was a new addition to the household.

And yet now, sitting in front of the two-year-old infant known as Gregory, or Greg as his parents often called him, it all seemed to have rushed by before Wirt had time to figure things out.

His quiet, cozy life was suddenly far more noisy and busy. Three humans, one incapable of looking after itself, and an outdated android filling up the spaces of the small home, now far more enclosed and colourful than it had ever been. Wirt didn’t mind it at first, he was just glad to see his mother getting the connections she needed and deserved but gradually new feelings started to seep in.  
He felt…out of place. Anxious. Frustrated. Some days he wanted to push these new humans out of his house just so he could breathe.

As a machine made for the soul purpose of caring for others needs and being a companion, it was completely contradictory to his programming. He should be happy and acceptant of the new additions, ready and willing to be there as he had and would always be for Amelia.  
But he didn’t _want_ to be, he wasn’t _ready_ to be.  
His mother had encouraged him to ‘grow’ but it was hard and confusing, the new sensations and ideas too much to handle when everything around him was constantly shifting. But he couldn’t disappoint his mother, not after all she’d done for him, so he kept it to himself and tried to figure it out alone.

And for the next few years that’s how it stayed, keeping Harry and Greg at a friendly distance, focusing on keeping his whirling thoughts at bay no matter what. And it may have continued if not for the overly curious, and intrusive human child.

* * *

 

Wirt didn’t know what triggered it exactly, it felt like a build up of errors that could no longer be ignored all rushing towards him at once. He’d been in his room, the LED on his head flashing red in the dim evening light as he tried to breathe- a ridiculous impulse that did nothing but one he _needed_ to do. Wrapped in his own arms he’d muttered every poem he could remember, then any he’d ever written, then made up more on the spot as he trembled.

His stress levels wouldn’t go down! He was almost at eighty percent already!

He needed Amelia- he needed his mum but then he’d have to explain, and she would be upset and disappointed with him, and then she’d realise how messed up he was and wouldn’t want—

“Wirt? Are you scared of the dark?”

Eyes wide open he jerked back from the boy, head slamming into the wall making something prickle in him. Greg’s large eyes were curious and trusting, face just as soft and open as his mothers was, toy frog bundled up in his arms. They watched each other silently, Wirt’s LED continuing to flash a vivid red.

Greg lifted up the toy to Wirt.  
“You can hold on to Admiral Plumbton. He makes me feel better when I’m sad and he’s good at keeping secrets!”

Wirt blinked down at the toy, eyeing the five-year-old in trepidation.  
“I th-thought it was called Ch-Charles Chaplin? A-and what makes you think I have secrets? I don’t have secrets!”

Damn stress levels messing with his vocals, he hated stuttering!

The boy shook his head a small pout on his lips.  
“That wasn’t his _real_ name. The day he gets a real name he’ll turn into a real frog.”

Wirt groaned into his knees, far too riled up to deal with a human child’s imagination right now.  
“That’s- never mind. I don’t have secrets and I’m not sad, so I don’t need it, leave me alone.”

“But you do have secrets and are upset.”

“No. I _don’t_ \- And- No. I’m _not._ ”

“But hiding when your sad is having secrets, and red-Wirt means really-really sad.”

That gave him pause. Greg did have a point, he was upset and hiding that he was upset, ergo, he was trying to keep it secret. That didn’t stop him from being annoying.

“Well then I can keep my secrets to myself.”

“I can’t.”

Of course he couldn’t, he’d tell Harry and Amelia and then they would question him and things would get awkward and he- what…was Greg doing?

A small hand petted at the side of his head, covering up the red flashes and leaving the room a little dimmer than before, Greg’s brows were furrowed as he stared down Wirt, eyes squinting as he seemed to try harder at whatever he was trying to do.

“…Greg, what are you doing?”

“My brain’s talking to your brain to make you feel better.”

“I- what?”

Greg looked suddenly unsure but left his hand where it was.  
“I asked the android at school why she would stare at the ones that came to pick kids up and she said they could speak in their heads.”

He’d been trying to communicate like an android would? That was kinda cute. That was really cute.  
Without realising it he’d already released a small laugh, lips upturning before he could cover them with his hand, smothering the sound.

“That- it only works between androids, humans can’t do that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Aw, beans!”

The frustrated look on the child’s face was too much, but seriously why would he even think of such a thing?

Without his knowledge Greg peaked under his hand, the tiny light switching between red and yellow. Catching on the child shoved Wirts arms out of the way, arranging the android so he could sit in his lap. Baffled by the action, Wirt’s thoughts were completely derailed when the toy frog was once again shoved in his face, more literally this time.

“Greg!”

“Help me find out my frogs real name!”

Wirt shoved the frog away, attempting to do the same to Greg but finding it more difficult than expected. He suspected that had something to do with his internal settings when dealing with children. Giving up on dislodging the boy Wirt slumped back with a loud sigh  
“Just pick one yourself, it’s _your_ frog.”

“Then I officially crown you second owner of this frog.” Greg punctuated his decree with a tap on Wirts shoulders and LED “C’mon Wirt, give it a try!”

The android took a few seconds to continue staring at the ceiling before giving in, slumping his head on top of Greg’s to glare at the frog. All he had to do was name the damn thing and he’d be left alone so he could wallow in his misery…that had seemed a lot more appealing just a moment ago.

Half distracted by his confused emotions he gave an answer that seemed appropriate.

“….Caspar.”

“Hmmmmm. _Close_ but that’s a cat’s name.”

“Well I tried, now can I-”

No he couldn’t. For the next five minutes Wirt was to act as Greg’s encyclopaedia of names, getting a variety of reactions from the boy depending on the supposed ‘suitability’ of each name. It was impossible for androids to become tired but Wirt was sure he was close to discovering a way to be so. Unconsciously their position had changed, Wirt’s arms holding the small human close so the child could flop comfortably in his hold.

“Alright…what about Boran Bellstrum?”

“Maybe if he feels like a chimney sweep.”

The android found his lips twisting in what others would have called a pout but he refused to. He didn’t _pout_ , he frowned. Seeming to notice the change, Greg snuggled into Wirts jumper with a grin.

“Don’t worry brother ‘o mine. You’re the best android ever! I know you’ll be able to pick a good name for this frog.”

All at once Wirt’s thoughts of naming toy amphibians were gone, replaced with a spinning sensation in his thirium pump. He stared down at the boy in his arms, their position and interactions through the past few years slowly linking together. The words stuck in his throat like molasses, slowly escaping him as it all came together.

“I…we’re…brothers?”

Greg giggled, snorting a little as if Wirt had told the best joke he’d ever heard.  
“What you didn’t know? That’s silly Wirt. What else would we be?”

He was right. Wirt didn’t know why something so simple would never cross his mind. Amelia was their mother, both Wirt’s and Greg’s, by definition that made them siblings.  
He had been stuck in the idea that he was completely separate from Harry and Greg’s existence in his mother’s life; he was an android, though Amelia saw him as a son that did not make him her son, only a human child could be, only a human family could be a real family and once she saw that she’d leave him. That made sense. To a machine.

But Wirt, whatever he was becoming, wasn’t a machine. If he let himself be part of Greg’s life, and Greg accepted him as openly as he seemed to, then there was no reason Wirt couldn’t have a family. He wasn’t just Amelia’s sort-of son; he could be a son and a brother.

All this time Wirt saw his relationship with Greg as that of strangers, but Greg had never felt that way.

For the first time, Wirt wrapped Greg up in a tight hug.

“I don’t know. I was being dumb. Thanks Greg…you’re a good brother.”

Greg returned the hug wholeheartedly, pleased with the praise. He had an odd big brother but he knew Wirt would work it out. Pulling back from the hug he glanced to Wirt’s LED with a smile.

“I know. Only a good brother could make red-Wirt go to blue-Wirt. I’ll let you go back to your poetry now.”

And with that, before Wirt could fully comprehend it the boy- his little brother was out the room and down the stairs. He lifted a hand to his temple, the light glow reflected on his fingertips revealed that it was indeed back to it's calming blue light, his stress levels far lower than they had been in years. Greg had barged in and completely ripped him out of his spiral into destruction.

Listening to the faint voices of the humans that had made him family a warmth settled in him. 

Just a little more and maybe he could be human too…

* * *

 

Amelia didn't know what had changed between her two boys, but watching Greg high on Wirt's shoulders, pointing down his chosen path while the android carefully held both him and the toy frog passed to him, she'd never been so proud.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! Okay, that's done now back to the Gravity Falls one... then I'll do another for this... then maybe a cross over.  
> It's too easy to write these when I don't have to worry about plot!
> 
> For anyone wondering Wirt hasn't fully deviated just yet but he's pretty damn close.
> 
> Hope you liked it!


End file.
